I had a nice set of safe questions ready. I'd stayed up so late preparing, checking, refining; nothing could have prepared me to face the incredible passion of Miguel Caron for the Warhammer 40K universe. “There is only war!” He exclaimed numerous times before I realized that was my answer. To Caron, that phrase is not a gimmick or sales tactic; it embodies the essence of his team's ultimate universe.

He asked me to call him Miguel as his smartphone crackled in and out. “I'm hiding under an escalator to get enough signal to talk with you!” I offered to get on Skype, but he informed me the internet availability was worse than the cell signal. We made some awkward small talk, then I asked that fateful question: “Can you describe this MMO to me in a nutshell?”

There is only war.

Within the game universe there will be multiple planets, each utilizing a single-server technology Behaviour Interactive's team is currently testing to create a truly massive multiplayer experience. “Think of the largest MMO you know,” Miguel said. “Now double it!” Thriving landscapes become battlefields in a world where humanity is facing its last hour. “It's not if they will be wiped out, it's when. Humanity is minus one from extinction. Every jump they make to save themselves punches another hole to allow Chaos through.” The resulting culture is desperate and brutal.

The four player factions—Chaos Marine, Space Marine, Orks, and Eldar—begin their battle from a personal attack cruiser in orbit. The cruiser is capable of merging with your friends' ships, forming a social guild structure by creating massive warships where in-guild production, storage, and trade can exist. Endgame guilds will be able to actually fire on the planet's surface from their ship, a power they must be careful not to exploit.

“We have taken inspiration from Eve Online in shaping our economic system. We've dumbed it down a bit—no one should need spreadsheets to manage their virtual trade.” There is one currency: requisition points. In the military model the game embodies, a player will have to requisition weapons and armor at supply points. To use the items, the character will have to prove their worth through experience, rank, and training.

Eternal Crusade will follow a free-to-play model, but non-paying players are restricted in faction and progression. “They can only be Orkboyz! It takes five Orkboyz in the tabletop game to take down one Space Marine!” Miguel's excitement grew with every breath. Free players cannot progress in military rank beyond officer.

Much of the game relies on social checks. Officers, squad leaders, commanders: each rank commands the players beneath them, and all are ultimately ruled over by a Council populated by the best of the best. Missions are handed down through rank by the players themselves. Miguel is counting on the lowest ranks to obey their officers a third of the time at best. The catch? You don't progress in-game unless you learn to take orders—then eventually give them. The social balance alone in this game is motivation enough to entice players to purchase premium content.

Obviously this is a PVP heavy game, and I was worried how a PVE/RP player such as myself might contribute to such a strict army structure. Miguel reassured me that there is a hefty need for diplomats, gatherers, crafters, and other non-combat roles. He estimates 60-70% of the players will choose active battle, with the others filling support roles and giving the offensive line something to defend. A player may make their way by saying, “Hey, if you take out that enemy, I'll give you 100 requisition points.” Or a group of miners might remind a squad of Marines that the resources are necessary to their faction, gaining some protection while they mine. Commanders may need to retire to a diplomatic position if they want to reach a position on the Council, and that position gives the greatest wartime powers of all.

While requisition points will be currency, campaigns will be won by the resources gathered and directed by the faction Council. If the Council finds a player strong and trustworthy enough, they can choose to funnel resources into establishing him as a Hero. This special class is granted abilities that can erase enemies en masse from the battlefield, changing the outcome in a few clicks. The abilities decay quickly, expiring at the end of a battle, so the Council must choose the Hero carefully.

The struggles where factions rise and fall and boundaries are shifted daily sound exciting enough, but the team is planning dynamic world events in three-month campaigns. Sweeping through planets one by one, each campaign will give players an epic struggle with clear winners. Miguel shared that he doesn't care for MMOs where the same things happen daily and everyone just moves forward. “There needs to be a victor,” he pointed out, “just as there needs to be a loser.” Players will earn badges and medals, marking them as campaign veterans seasoned on the field of battle.

I didn't get many details on the class system, but there may not be much need: The details have been written in Codex after Codex for the fifteen 40K armies and their chapters. Miguel plans to copy tabletop units stat for stat to make up the classes, complete with chapter variations. "I don't care about game balance at launch" he said. "War is not balanced. Why should a game about war be balanced?" Nevertheless, a system will exist to prevent a faction's monopoly of resources and overwhelming strength. Tyranids, the monstrous beasties that make up the ultimate enemy, will level the playing field, as will an intricate weather system capable of wiping out terrain and fortresses. These random mechanics will be wielded by the developers as needed to keep the factions on equal footing.

Miguel promised more factions would be playable in the future. I brought up my personal favourite, the Necron army, and he assured me Necrons were the most popular army amongst his developers as well. The first four player factions are a great place to start, since they will provide straightforward classes that will be easy for players to understand. Playing members of the other factions, especially Necrons, would involve a more complex knowledge of the game and battle system before the player found them effective rather than frustrating. Miguel doesn't plan to deviate from established lore, regardless. “I'm not worried about content. The 40K universe has enough content already for a hundred years of updates!”

I didn't even need to ask questions about the team's familiarity with Warhammer 40K; Miguel made it clear that every developer on the project is foremost a fan. I expressed my excitement and delight over everything he'd shared—this may be the first Warhammer game (Fantasy or 40K) which has truly grabbed my interest. Still, the gutsy designs are risky from a business standpoint. Miguel did scoff there—rightfully, because at that point I should have known better. "We are not making a game for publishers or marketing, we are making a game for the Warhammer fans." If Miguel and his team stay true to the bold strategy he's outlined, this MMO may wholly embody the spirit of the tabletop version.

This game sounds like its going to be seriously hard core! I know that WH40K fans are almost as demanding as Star Trek fans when it comes to details, so this may be right up their collective alley. ^_^

Also, my first action will be selling Ken into slavery for my own personal gain. ^_^

Chaobo - Keep asking! There are SO MANY things I didn't get to put into the article; I was on the phone with Miguel for 45 minutes, so I have a lot of info.

Yes, combat nerfed in the sense that they chose Orkboyz as the f2p race because they are weaker and have to learn to operate as a horde to get by. The ranking isn't technically nerfed, it just has a ceiling. If you hit the officer rank and want to get further, you have to purchase the premium content. He said he was knowingly taking the friction between paying and non-paying players and making it a game mechanic. You can play for free, but you're a grunt and in the ranking system always subservient to the paying players. Like I said, GUTSY!

They haven't nailed down the pay-to-play content completely, but they intend to have microtransactions for items such as unique animations. Say you want to, as an Orkboyz, pay 50 cents to be able to teabag your enemy on the field of battle (that was actually his example.) Pay the fee, get a /teabag command, go wild. He spoke of the other premium content as a pay-to-unlock sort of thing. Will it be based like his other games, where you can pay more to unlock class by class or a lower but monthly fee for all premium content? He did not go into that.

12 Moogles would be a scary force, Kupo. We're all just lucky they don't wiggle those wings and take over the world.

Arthur - Hardcore doesn't begin to cover it. He's looking to pick up everything beloved about 40K and place it directly in a virtual world. He doesn't see the need to reinvent the wheel when this has been a complete game for so many years. It makes me excited!

I am not going to hold my breath on it getting released just yet as we saw what happened with Dark Millennium. However if it does make it to release, I will be very excited. I loved playing Dawn of War 2, Space Marine and I was really hoping for Dark Millennium to come out. I do have some concerns over the Free To Play model as there are some major power level differences in units in the Warhammer 40k universe. If you are playing an Orkboy and you and your group come upon a single Terminator Space Marine, you are so so dead. Heck a single Terminator can take on most of the tanks in the game.

I've not visited your site before, but I had to register to say thanks for the extra info. As a life long tabletop and digital gamer I have been waiting for a 40K MMO for some time (R.I.P Dark Millennium). I really hope he does just transfer the rule set into an MMO somehow.

Thanks for the article, I enjoyed reading it. The developers have some bold ideas for this game. I'm not a tabletop player so I'm no expert, but in the tabletop game you field an army and in the MMO you will play a single unit, afaik. Not sure how the balance will work if they base the MMO off of the codex. I know he said he's not concerned with balance but I am, probably because my favorite faction is Imperial Guard and one guard ain't worth squat, haha. And I don't foresee a situation where the IG faction players would actually outnumber enemy armies. If I had to guess I'd say most people will play SM and CSM.

So if IG were ever introduced would they get a ton of artillery and tanks to make up for the fact that a stiff breeze would knock them over? Maybe they would only combat in vehicles. I'm just speculating at this point, I'm just concerned about the game being fun for people not playing one of the super units as stated by Kesh.